This history of maritime warfare in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has been written by one of the field’s leading experts. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries witnessed the rise of oceanic battle-fighting sail navies, which developed into instruments of worldwide strategic power.
Spain, France, Holland and Britain were the leading protagonists but, after the eclipse of first Holland and then Spain, the struggle for history at sea resolved chiefly into a Franco-British conflict. It culminated in Britain's maritime triumph in the Napoleonic Wars and the elevation of the Royal Navy to global dominance.
'War at Sea in the Age of Sail' shows how such dominance was eventually achieved, with detailed accounts of each of the key naval conflicts from the highest strategic level right down to the experience of the ordinary sailor.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
Map List
Chronology
Introduction: War and Industrialization
1. The Organizing of Navies
2. The Anglo-Dutch Wars and the Origins of Modern Naval Power 1650-1674
3. The Rise and Fall of the French Navy 1680-1713
4. The Baltic in the Eighteenth Century: Seapower in an Inland Sea
5. The Dawn of Global Conflict 1739-1763
6. Reverse and Recovery: Britain Versus the World 1776-1782
7. Total War: Britain, France and the Struggle for Survival 1793-1802
8. Seapower and Landpower: The Napoleonic Wars 1803-1815
9. The War of 1812
10. Pax Britannica? The Last Years of Seapower Under Sail 1815-1850
Battlefleet Tonnages
Biographies
Further Reading
Index
Picture Credits
Review:This is a beautifully produced book, excellently designed and superbly illustrated. Not only are the pictures visually inspiring, the captions are informative and pertinent. -- [partial excerpt of review] Reviewer, Amazon.co.uk
